[Sca-cooks] food safe temperature

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

That's actually really fascinating, Cadoc--guys like you and Master A
are really good for helping non-professional me understand stuff like
this....
So, if a person (like me) had to cool down some dishes, but had really
limited fridge space, what would be the best way to do it? Cool it on
the kitchen counter to a certain temp? Cover it and put it out on the
(secure) porch (at least in winter)?
--maire, not figuring on cooking another feast soon, but ya never
know.....;-)


A couple of other things to add to my previous answer:

	I too, use my back porch in winter to chill things for big meals, when the
temps cooperate.  I find that the top of my washing machine is good, as the
cold metal underneath helps speed the chilling process.  However, as has
been stated, without the refrigeration unit evaporator fan, the porch will
not recover it's cold as quickly as a refrigerator would if hot food is put
out to cool, depending on how well your porch is insulated.  With a fresh
batch of plastic sheeting up at the screen walls, I can keep the porch 10°
warmer than the outside air - of course, this year the plastic is a couple
of years old and ratty and the temps stay pretty close to ambient air temps.
	The other thing to consider is if the outside air is going below freezing,
and whether you want your food to freeze or not.  I've put veggies in a
cooler and placed them outside, only to have frozen lettuce and cukes,
thereby ruining those tender foods.  For a casserole or soup, it might not
be a problem, but for many other foods it can be.
	So, using the great outdoors as your refrigeration can be useful, as long
as you keep monitoring your food temps (get your food thermometers out), and
the air temp inside your porch/car/coolers as you go.
	Christianna